The story began as a “gotcha.” Australian journalist Safran proved (via a surreptitious DNA swab) that white supremacist Richard Barrett had African DNA for a documentary on race relations. The show never hit the air but instead turned into something far more sinister a year later when Barrett was discovered stabbed to death by a young black man. A cut-and-dried murder case turned bizarre when a sexual relationship is uncovered. Safran, an outsider in the South, spins this stranger-than-fiction story into pure true-crime gold.

The Boston Girl: A Novel by Anita Diamant

Scribner

“How did you get to be the woman you are today?” This prompt, proposed by a 22-year-old to her grandmother Addie Baum, begins this fictional memoir of a Jewish woman living through the significant historical events in Boston in the early 20th century. Issues of the immigrant experience (Baum’s parents emigrated from Russia and fight against assimilation) and early waves of feminism punctuate the coming-of-age narrative.

From a Nickel to a Token: Journey from Board of Transportation to MTA by Andrew J. Sparberg

Empire State Editions

New York Transit Museum tour guide Sparberg chronicles the birth of the transit system as we know it today. The book highlights 20 significant events between 1940 and 1968, beginning with the creation of MTA. Exhaustively researched and filled with many never-before-published pictures, this book is a history nerd’s delight — though probably not for the casual New York history lover.

Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz

Harper

Prolific thriller writer Horowitz, whose last Holmes book “The House of Silk” was backed by the Conan Doyle estate, returns to the famous Reichenbach Falls scene, where Holmes and his arch-nemesis fall to their apparent deaths. But if you’re expecting a return of the great detective, you’ll be disappointed. This one is squarely about the bad guys. The death of Professor Moriarty leaves a power vacuum in London’s underworld that only detectives Athelney Jones (a Holmes obsessive) and his partner Frederick Case can solve.

The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power Behind Five English Thrones by Thomas Asbridge

Ecco

The term “medieval biography” doesn’t necessarily conjure up a lot of excitement among the general book-loving population. But in this case, it really should. This blood, guts, gore and gallantry romp through medieval history, following the great knight William Marshall (1147-1219), is way more fun than it should be. We begin with Marshall, who is nearly put to death at five, but escapes, makes a name for himself as a fierce warrior, becomes a politician, and is later named regent of the realm.